cxxiv. Proceedings. 



animals. That belief had survived to the present time. In 

 the early part of the last century, a committee was appointed 

 to inquire into it in France, and the committee thought there 

 was not much truth in it. It was still believed, however, by 

 fishermen and others on the English coast. Dickens told 

 them a little about it in " David Copperfield." At Hartlepool 

 the belief was very strong. There were two tombstones at 

 Hartlepool on which it was said that the persons died 

 as the tide was going out. A lady had told him that she usc;d to 

 visit a good deal amongst the poorer classes of Hartlepool, 

 and she had heard from them of people dying at the fall of the 

 tide. Remembering that the Mediterranean was not a tidal 

 sea, Aristotle could hardly have got this idea from observation, 

 but had probably heard it from travellers who had been on the 

 coasts of Western Europe and Asia, where the tides were 

 stronger. There was also a belief on the English coast that 

 people could not properly be born until the tide rose. 



Dr. Carpenter said he might observe, with regard to that 

 point concerning the tide, that, when attached many years ago 

 to St. Thomas's Hospital, he kept a record of the moments 

 when patients died, and the moments when some 860 children 

 were born, and found the births and deaths ran pretty equally 

 throughout all hours of the day and night. 



The Rev. E. M. Geldart said with reference to what Mr. 

 Topley said about the tide, it must be borne in mind that a 

 great number of writings were attributed to Aristotle that he 

 never wrote. Even in the book before him there was no doubt 

 that part of the 7th and the whole of the loth books were 

 spurious. He could not find in the note books any reference to 

 the tide ; and indeed the Greeks originally had no word for tide, 

 because there was no tide in the Mediterranean ; but they in- 

 vented a word for it when it became known to them. 



The following is a list of the objects which were exhibited : — 

 By the Rev. E. M. Geldart (to illustrate his paper), 

 specimens of Athenian Lepidoptera ; by Mr. E. Lovett (to 

 illustrate the paper), specimens of Crustacea and Mollusca ; 

 by Mr. J. E. Syms (under his microscope), membrane from 

 human eye; by Mr. W. J. Nation, Natural Cloves on the stalk. 

 Vegetable Ivory, and fossil gum containing insects ; by Mr. 

 J. S. Johnson, fine specimens of Chalcedony, embryo of 

 abnormal pig, and (under his microscope) section of equisetum : 

 by Mr. W. Field, specimens of woody Fungus from Jerusalem ; 

 by Mr. Low-Sargeant (under the microscope, 1} object), mole- 

 cular movement of colour particles in water ; by Mr. W. F. 

 Stanley, Hardy's Compressorium ; by Mr. A. Warner (under his 

 microscope). Head of Tipula, showing eyes, &c. ; by 

 Mr. N. Waterall, old portrait and lock of hair of Jeremy 

 Bentham, also some examples of ancient literature. 



